The battle of Morva
by TheNightsWithSalem
Summary: A mission ends in tragedy and Dagran is forced to face one of his worst nightmares... but sometimes things are not as they seem (this story take place six months before the events of the game)
1. Pain

_**One of my favourite series is Hawaii Five-0. Why am I saying this? Because here in Italy I'm watching the sixth season and weeks ago I saw an episode (the 18th, if I don't mistake) in which they found two men in the ocean. One was dead, but the other one didn't want to let him go. That scene was really touching and it gave me the idea for this story.**_

 _ **Ah, one more thing: in this story I quoted something. Let's see who guess what is it...**_

 **Pain**

Dagran leaned with his back against the dilapidated wall, the boots that sank in the mud, and with the sword firmly between his hands he peered beyond the shelter. What he saw didn't promise anything good.

"Shit, they're too many!" he hissed.

Behind the wall, a few feet away from them, there was a group of Reptid. He counted at least seven of them. In other circumstances, they would not have been a problem: those creatures, similar to humans, but smaller and with scaled skin and reptile's features, were weak and the only point of strength they had was their number. This time however it was different.

When they had accepted the mission of support to Morva, they had been informed that their task was to help the city guard to thinning the ranks of the Reptid who lived in the ruins of the temple-town, half sunk in the marshes. What they didn't know was that these Reptid were as big as Orcs, and equally strong. The city guard was not prepared, and neither were they.

Now Dagran and Zael were separated from their friends, surrounded by those monsters and desperately searching for an escape route. The guards with whom they had to deal with the northern area of the swamps had tried in all ways to face up the Reptid, but those creatures were too many and outside their reach. One by one, all the warriors had fallen, despite the help of the mercenaries. The two of them were the only survivors.

Dagran tried not to think of the havoc he had seen. The torn bodies of the warriors that sank in the mud of the swamp, where they would vanish without trace, or taken from the Reptid and eaten under their eyes.

 _No, we'll not disappear that way. I'll not allow it!_

Zael approached him quietly.

"What do we do now?" whispered worried the friend.

Dagran studied the surroundings. They couldn't turn back and the most direct route to the camp was just behind the group of Reptids, however the ruins on their right could provide them with a safer path, albeit longer. The only problem was that from where they stood up to the shelter of the ruins there was a wide clearing flooded by the slush. He looked again at the Reptids. At the time they were engaged to stuff themselves with the remains of a guard, of which he could see only a bloody hand that came out from beneath the massive bodies of creatures. Dagran hoped that that poor man was already dead when they began to tear him to pieces. With a sigh he turned to Zael.

"If we move to the ruins that way we should be safe, but to get there we should get out of the open, and if those bastards see us..."

There was no need to add anything else.

Zael also began to scan the surroundings. After a while the he pulled him for an arm and pointed to him a very distant wall, beyond the group of Reptid. Dagran had to sharpen the sight to find it, but when he saw it he noticed that a good part of the wall gave the impression of standing by miracle.

"We need them to look elsewhere, right? If I hit that wall with the crossbow and I do it collapse, the noise should attract their attention, giving us time to go unnoticed."

"Are you sure you can do it, Zael?" asked Dagran. The other nodded.

"I still have one of the Yurick's special arrows: it will need just one shot in the right spot."

It was a risky plan. Usually the Reptid were not very smart and it was quite easy to distract them and lure them into a trap, but these had already proven to be out of the ordinary. What would they do if only part of the group had been attracted by the noise? Or worse, what if a sudden wriggle of ingenuity had pushed them to go in the opposite direction? Not to mention that there was also the remote possibility that the arrow would not work properly or that Zael missed the target.

After a quick reflection, Dagran decided to support his friend's plan anyway. In the end they had no choice but to try that way.

Received the go-ahead, Zael left him and took position behind a column a few feet away. The young mercenary drew out of the custody on his side his little crossbow, he charged it with the enchanted bullet and took the aim. Dagran remained hidden against the wall, the anxious gaze that kept passing from his friend to the Reptid who were finishing their meal. Soon after, Zael made the blow.

Everything went as they had hoped. The aim of Zael proved infallible as always, and in a second the arrow stuck in his target, dissolving in a small black cloud that corroded the stone and collapsed the entire wall with a roar that felt even at that distance. The Reptid lifted their heads and hissing they turned in that direction. A moment later, all seven creatures rose and began to run towards the source of that noise.

Dagran smiled smugly. As soon as Zael reached him, the two ran through the clearing trying to make as little noise as possible and not to look at the mangled corpse of the guard just ahead. When they were sheltered between the ruins, the air was filled with thunder. In a matter of seconds a thick rain began to fall on them.

 _But of course! As if the situation wasn't shitty enough!_

The crossing of the swamps became even more insidious with the rain that made it impossible to distinguish the muddy soil from the marshes, but Dagran and Zael continued the same, exploiting every surface of solid stone that could emerge from the quagmire. Both found themselves more than once to sink into the slush to the knees, when a second of distraction made them put a foot in the wrong spot.

"At least we were able not to miss the boots" Zael tried to defuse while helping Dagran to get out of the swamp for the third consecutive time, but it was obvious that neither of them had any desire to laugh. The ancient temple-town of Morva was a real maze, with its blind alleys and the swamps that had conquered it, and all that rain did nothing but worsen the situation. When they passed for the fourth time next to a dead tree, in the only point where the soil had retained its solidity, Dagran launched a rabid fist to the trunk and broke almost half the rotten wood.

"But holy shit! Where the fuck is that fucking camp?!" he blurted out in the grip of frustration. Zael placed an hand on his shoulder and tried to calm him down.

"I'm sure it's near here," Zael said, "we just have to move on. Here, if I'm not mistaken, we haven't tried there."

The friend was pointing to a group of broken columns that once had to be the entrance of a long corridor with the ceiling still intact. Dagran took a deep breath and when he was calmed he nodded and followed Zael along the way. At least he could confirm that they had not passed that way yet and for some time they were sheltered from the storm. Crossed the arch at the end of the corridor, they found themselves in a large half-flooded square surrounded by the remains of ancient buildings. The rain had made itself less dense and the sky above their heads seemed less gloomy. They studied the ruins surrounding them, but they could not recognize the area. The engravings that once adorned the walls had been erased almost entirely from the weather, and the large statue that stood in the center of the quagmire was so ruined that it was impossible to understand what it represented. Four streets departed from the corners of the square, and at the end of one of them, the gleam of a fire shone in the distance. At that sight the two mercenaries felt the hope rekindle in them.

"Here! I told you it was close!" rejoiced Zael. Even Dagran drew a sigh of relief. At last they would have left that cursed place!

They began to start along the trail, then a sudden thump made them turn. Creeping silently into the mud, two Reptid had arrived at their backs and with their huge mole they were now towering over the mercenaries. Even Dagran was forced to raise his head to look at the creatures in the face.

 _Shit! Right now?_

The Reptids left the attack. Dagran and Zael drew back to dodge the assault and after exchanging a brief hint of understanding, they divided, dealing with an aggressor each. They bypassed them and forced them to shoulder each other, then they began to respond to the attacks. The swords allowed the two mercenaries to keep a little distance from the creatures, but even if they were unarmed, those Reptid were however powerful opponents, with claws able to pierce an armor with disturbing ease. The beast in front of him charged Dagran with wide open jaws and with an arm it tried to hit him in the chest, but the warrior bent down and took advantage of it to attack the creature by the side, causing to it a deep wound. The Reptid hissed furious and continued undaunted the assault, snapping the fangs and whirling its arms in an attempt to grasp him. Despite the hindrance of the rain and mud, Dagran managed to dodge all the attacks and to respond with numerous blows, and after a while he threw a worried look towards Zael. Luckily, the friend was even doing it without his help. Zael had managed to score several strokes, judging from the wounds on the body of the Reptid, which however did not mention to retire or fall.

Distracted by his friend's clash, Dagran noticed the last second of the attack that his opponent had directed him against. He succeeded in leaping back to the last second, but a burning of the cheek and abdomen warned him that he had not been fast enough and that the attack of the Reptid had had some effect. His blood began to mingle with the water that flowed on him and dyed his clothes of red. The wounds however were not deep enough to cause a problem, so he continued to defend himself and attack without difficulty. The Reptid changed tactics and it hit him with its shoulder so violent that he lost his grip on the sword. Dagran tried to draw back, but he went against one of the walls surrounding the square. At that point the Reptid was on him in a heartbeat. With the force of despair the mercenary tried to defend himself with bare hands and by miracle he blocked the opponent pounces grabbing his wrists. The creature was powerful, Dagran however was a man almost as strong as it, and although he felt the muscles burn for the effort, the mercenary managed to stop for a while the attacks. Only at the last second he remembered that the Reptid also had fangs. The creature snapped the head forward to bite him to the jugular. With his hands engaged in blocking the claws of the Reptid, the only thing Dagran managed to do was to deviate from the bite. When the fangs of the Reptid sank in his shoulder, he failed to resist and threw a scream of pain.

"Dagran!" Zael had seen that he was in trouble and panicked he tried to reach him, but his opponent did not give him a truce.

Dagran gnashed his teeth while the Reptid sank its in his flesh. If he hadn't freed himself quickly, the creature would have ripped his arm off and it would be the end for him.

He decided to try a daring move. He let go his grip on the arms of the Reptid and with a quick gesture he sank his fingers in his eyes, squashing them like grape beans. The creature, surprised and blinded, broke from him and took its hands to the face smeared of blood, hissing furiously. Dagran ignored the painful pangs to the shoulder and taking advantage of the blindness of the Reptid, he began to storm him with punches on its snout. The Reptid could no longer defend itself, Dagran then charged it with all the strength he still had and threw him to the ground, near where his sword lay, then he sprang on him to keep him still, recovered the weapon and with a snarling he planted it with violence in its throat. The Reptid bubbled for a few seconds spatting blood on him, the body shaken by the spasms of death, then it finally went limp and stopped moving. Dagran gasped over the corpse of the creature for a few seconds, with the rain washing the blood off him. He had won, in the end. When he looked up, he saw that even Zael had succeeded in getting the better of his opponent. The other Reptid was slumped to the ground, full of wounds and with at least a couple of arrows planted in his head, and Zael was resting on a broken column to catch his breath. His friend looked in his direction and began to approach staggering. From what Dagran could see, at least he had not been injured.

"Are you all right?" asked Zael when he was halfway. His anxious gaze was going through all his wounds. Dagran looked at himself a moment. He was all a pain and both the vest and the shirt were torn and drenched in blood. Luckily the wounds to the cheek and belly were not as deep as that to the shoulder, but in any case it was better to quickly return to the camp to seek Mirania.

"Don't worry, I'll be fine," Dagran said with a reassuring tone. He put himself on his feet and with a last effort, he freed the sword from the opponent's corpse.

"Luckily they were just two..." he commented.

Zael nodded with a half smile, then locked himself. His face turned pale, his eyes wide open by surprise and fear.

"Dagran, behind you!" he screamed.

It all happened in a matter of seconds. Dagran turned around, but he wasn't fast enough. A third Reptid came out from the ruins and struck him in the face with a punch so powerful to hurl him against the wall nearby. Dagran hit his head hard and slid to the ground. He felt the taste of the blood in his mouth; every sound was muffled, he couldn't understand why he had no sword in his hand. Groggy from the blow, he tried to get up to look for the weapon, but the creature was already above him, ready to hit. He knew he had to do something, to try to defend himself, but his head was too heavy even just to think. The Reptid hissed and lifted its arm swiftly, preparing to that his throat with a claw.

With the corner of the eye he saw Zael rushing by him as quickly as he could. With the sword firmly in his hands, the mercenary charged the Reptid throwing a rabid scream and pushed it away from Dagran, still half fainted, until the two disappeared from his sight.

As he tried to return to himself, he could hardly hear the clash in place between Zael and the Reptid. At one point the creature screamed, then the only sound that he was able to distinguish was the crashing of the rain.

Dagran rose up as quickly as he could and in a moment he finally managed to find Zael and the Reptid, both standing in front of the statue in the middle of the square. The creature was still, the head dangle on its chest. Although he could not see it, Zael had to be able to pierce the opponent. He recovered the sword and with a sick step he started to reach the friend when he realized that something was wrong. Why Zael didn't move?

Just at that moment, Zael stepped back staggering, deviating from the Reptid. The creature remained where it was, with the mercenary sword planted upright in the heart, nailing it to the statue. It was then that Dagran noticed the arm of the creature that just swung. Its claws were gross with fresh blood. A frost deeper than the rain shook his chest.

 _No... no, no, NO!_

He ran as faster as he could to reach Zael, while the other one fell to the ground. He knelt by his side and saw with horror that what he feared had happened. Under the jacket, Zael's chain mail was torn and five huge bleeding wounds indicated the points where the claws of the Reptid had passed. The creature had ripped his stomach, pierced a lung and struck to smear his heart in one shot.

There was no time to lose. Dagran took off the vest, and tried to press it against Zael's wounds to stop the bleeding.

"Hang on, Zael!" he looked frantically around, looking for something that could help him to save his friend. But what could he ever find there in the midst of the ruins and the mud? The light of the camp continued to shine at the end of the path in front of him. It was so close...

Zael rattled, then began to cough. Some blood dripped from the corners of his mouth. Dagran lifted his head in an attempt to make him breathe better.

"Come on Zael, we're almost there: the camp is right over there. You can do it!"

Seeing his friend in those conditions had destroyed the control he had on his own emotions. It was since he had lost Celes that he did not feel such despair. Zael looked at him with vitreous eyes. He tried to pull himself up, but his body was shaken by quakes and the mercenary fell back, coughing again and spitting more blood than before.

"I... I don't think I can do it," he whispered with a thread of voice. Dagran shook his head.

"Then it will mean I'll take you. Hang on."

He took his arm and passed it around his neck. Zael however was too weak and his arm slid down. The young mercenary looked at him straight in the eyes. Dagran knew he was dying, but he didn't want to accept it.

"I'm afraid you have to go alone. D-do not worry about me" begged him Zael.

"Don't say crap! I have no intention of abandoning you. We have to become Knights together, right?" blurted Dagran. Zael at that point smiled at him.

"You will be a great Knight. I wish I could see you..." His voice was lower and lower. Then, slowly, he closed his eyes.

"You'll see me, Zael," Dagran nodded desperate "and I'll see you, but we must do it together. You can't give up right now. Try to resist, Zael. Stay with me... Zael? Zael!"

Dagran called and shook him hard, but the friend no longer answered. His body became heavier than before. Zael was gone.

The world around Dagran suddenly became dumb and unreal. He no longer felt the rain flowing on him, the mud beneath him. Not even the rumble of thunder over his head could reach him. His friend could not have gone. His brother could not be dead!

He thought of the warriors who had seen fall before. Sunk in the mud, shredded mercilessly... all vanished into thin air, without trace. No, Zael wouldn't end up like them.

"I will not leave you here" he said in a trembling voice, "Now we go back to the camp and let Mirania take care of you, okay? You'll see, you'll be fine."

Dagran picked up the body of his friend as best he could and after having tightened him well in his arms, he stood up and walked along the way to the camp. The way to go was not much, but between the mud, the rain and the weight he carried, it seemed endless to Dagran. He stumbled several times and he risked to flounder in the swamps too.

"Look," he said by turning to Zael, "We are almost here, you see?"

The friend, however, did not answer him.

 _He's just sleeping_ , he kept repeating himself. _He's just sleeping..._

When he reached the camp, the first thing that he noticed was the absence of guard men, followed immediately after by the silence. The fire that drove him was abandoned to itself and only the ancient dome under which the brazier had been placed had prevented it from extinguishing during the storm. Why wasn't anyone there?

Dagran looked better at the tents mounted in the middle of the buildings. Many of them were torn or covered with blood. He hastened the pace in panic, continuing to throw glances all around, hoping to find someone. When he arrived at the great clearing at the center of the camp, he understood why he had not met soul alive.

The corpses of dozens of Reptid were scattered around the square, along with those of the warriors remained at the camp. It was certainly not the first time that Dagran witnessed such a massacre, yet the sight of all those dead shook him.

 _It didn't have to go this way! Why did all this happened?_

At one point he was able to discern a familiar face in the distance. Yurick. The young Mage was leaning against the facade of a dilapidated building. He began to run towards him, convinced that he would also find his fellow in the nearby, but he wasn't prepared for what he found. The boy was immobile and covered with blood, with his head dangling inert, the good eye and mouth ajar in an expression almost as surprising. A spear was stuck in his chest and nailed him to the wall. He had tried to defend himself, judging by the blackened stones and the charred bodies around him, but the Reptids still got the better of him. At the foot of the boy he also found the body of Syrenne, stuck between two half incinerated Reptids. The woman had the skull smashed and her face was hidden from the disheveled hair and from the blood cast from the deadly wound. Dagran stepped back horrified in front of the havoc they had made of his friends, and after a few steps, something creaked beneath his feet. It was ice, a kind of cold trail that pointed to the courtyard of the building next door.

 _Lowell!_

The mercenary moved swiftly and followed the icy trail. Turning the corner, he found a scenario different from the previous but equally horrible. The courtyard was strewn with half melted ice stalactites, most of which were still stuck in the corpses of the defeated enemies. Lowell was there, lying on the edge of the pond that occupied a third of the courtyard, with his eyes closed. His right arm was folded unnaturally, with the broken bone protruding from the flesh, and three large red gashes opened on his back. He too had fallen into battle. Dagran felt his body trembling more and more for agitation. Almost all his family had gone and he had not been able to do anything to prevent it.

The only one that had not yet found was Mirania. Unable to deal with reality, he became convinced that the powers of the Healer would have brought back them all. Zael, Lowell, Yurick, Syrenne... Yes, he just had to find Mirania and everything would be fine. Dagran was going to look for her, but not even a second after formulating that thought, he noticed the black silhouette in the putrid water, and all his hopes went out. The Healer was in front of him, floating in the middle of the pond along with the bodies of some Reptids. He could not see her face hidden underwater, but only the white flower that adorned her hair, reduced to a grey, withered lump. The Reptid had attacked her with ferocity and snatched her arms with bites. At that sight, Dagran felt something breaking inside of him.

 _I lost everything. Again._

The forces abandoned him. He fell on his knees in the midst of the mud, careless of the rain that had begun to fall thick again and unable to distract his gaze from the death that surrounded him. His friends torn to pieces, the cold body of his brother in his arms...

The sight began to get fogged; he knew it wasn't for the rain. He clenched Zael's face to his chest and quietly began to cry. All the people he loved were dead, leaving him in the midst of a lake of blood and sorrow. He was alone again.

Drowned in his despair and shaken by sobs, Dagran did not notice the more and more loud hisses. He raised his head for a moment. Those infernal creatures were back and had encircled him. Not that this was important anymore: now he had no more reason to continue fighting.

"Dagran?"

A voice called him from afar, but he couldn't distinguish it well and did not even care about it. Motionless, with the body of Zael still tight in his arms, Dagran watched the Reptid come closer, excited to the idea of sinking their fangs into a new prey. One of them walked on one of the still intact ice stalactites and broke it with its huge mole causing a sharp snapping. They were now in a step...

"Dagran!"

Now the voice came to him clearer from a point behind him, and despair gave way to surprise when he recognized it.

 _Zael?_

At that moment a hand grabbed his shoulder. A human hand. Surprised by that new presence, Dagran began to turn to see who grabbed him...

... and then he awoke.


	2. Comfort

**Comfort**

Dagran blinked confused. He pulled himself up slowly, dropping the cloak that covered him. He was no longer in the swamps, but under a rocky ledge. It was dead of night and above the foliage of the trees the sky was lit by a myriad of stars. A field fire burned a little farther. One of the branches that fed it had broken, causing the snap he had heard just before waking up. He gave a quick look at the surroundings and realized that his companions were all there. Yurick was lying next to the rock wall and gave his back to the fire. Syrenne and Mirania were closer, with the warrior sleeping hugged to the Mage. They all seemed so serene...

Zael and Lowell were well awake, and at that moment they were leaning on Dagran to observe him with worried faces. From the hand resting on his shoulder, he realized that it was Zael who wake him up.

"What is it?" he asked half asleep.

"I ended my turn of guard and I saw that you were agitated" said Zael, "Is everything all right?"

Dagran nodded trying to hide the embarrassment. Was he agitated so much to make them worry? He would have avoided gladly to give show that way...

"Are you sure?" Lowell asked doubtful.

"Yes, it was just a bad dream, nothing more!" he tried to reassure them, though in reality he was the one who needed it most.

 _Yes, it was just a nightmare_ , he went on repeating himself.

They had really fought in Morva a few days before, and in fact he and Zael had risked to die in an ambush while they were lost in the swamps, but unlike his dream, those who they had faced were just common Reptid and they had won without losses, even though the enemies were much more numerous than expected. Only Syrenne had been wounded, when a whole group of those creatures had torn down on her by brandishing poisoned blades, but the warrior had managed to stand up to them effortless, and Mirania's cares had put her back in good shape immediately, even if the Mage had forced her to rest a couple of days, to be sure that she removed every trace of poison from her friend's body. After receiving the reward, they had waited for Syrenne's forced convalescence to end before to leave, and that's why they were now camped there.

His friends were still leaning on him and they weren't satisfied at all with his answers, but eventually they decided not to ask him anything else. Lowell turned away to take position and begin his turn to guard, while Zael wrapped himself in his cloak and stretched a few steps away from Dagran.

Since the next turn was his and that now he was awake already, Dagran sat near the fire with folded legs and stared at the heart of the flames, lost in his own thoughts. It was a long time since he had no nightmares, and when he had them, they were always bound to his memories: the destruction of his village, the death of the people he had loved, and all the other horrible things that had happened to him over the years.

But this was different. It was not about something that had already happened, but about something that _could happen._ As if it were some kind of a premonitory dream, though he knew it wasn't. The battle had ended days before and all the six of them were there, alive and well. The despair he had felt, however, didn't mention to leave. After some time to brood over, he understood what was the meaning of that dream, the reason why he had done it.

Things were going well for too long, to the point that he had almost taken into account the idea of abandoning his plans of revenge, so his mind had begun to play with him, reminding to him that their fortune could end at any moment. It was as if an evil voice continued to tease him and kept repeating to infinity that he was destined to lose all that he had, regardless of how he tried to prevent it.

 _I will not allow it to happen again_ , he repeated himself. He would have fought until his last breath to ensure that his tragedy wouldn't repeat. But in the end that dream had reminded him that there could always be an unexpected event, an opponent outside of his reach ready to destroy him and whoever he had around. He couldn't accept it.

 _I have to become even stronger._

There was no other solution. He knew well, however, that as he trained, there were things against which his muscles and his skill with the sword were not enough. If only he had the gift of magic like Lowell or Yurick...

He had to find something that would guarantee him more power, even at the cost of falling to terms with the darkest forces that could be encountered on the face of the earth.

"Dagran?" The voice of Zael roused him from his thoughts. When he turned, he saw that his friend had pulled up and stared at him. Dagran put aside his reasoning and asked him in a low voice if there was any problem. Zael looked away. The concern he had seen before was still there on his face. The friend drew a long breath before answering him.

"It's because of you. Forgive me if I meddle in your things, but that nightmare wasn't one of the usual, was it?"

Dagran arched an eyebrow.

"What makes you believe so?"

"We've known each other for years. Even if you try not to give it a look, I always get it when you're upset. And I realized that those who disturbed you sleep were not old memories, but something more."

Dagran studied him for a moment. Yes, he knew him all too well. Over the years it had become increasingly difficult to keep his secrets hidden to him, but at least he knew that he could count on Zael. At least outside of his revenge plans.

"Is there anything I can do to make you feel better?" asked the friend.

We mused a little. Zael could not give him what he really needed to find peace, however, given the situation, there was one thing he could do to help him at least that night.

"Stay close to me, please. That's enough for me."

Zael looked at him quietly, then smiled and sat down beside him, surrounding his shoulders with an arm. At that contact, Dagran fled a sigh. As always, having his friend near had the power to calm him, at least a little. The image of Zael that he had in his head, lifeless and covered with blood, began to fade, but it didn't go away altogether. He forced himself not to look at him, fearing to make that image come truth if only he had turned. At the thought, a frosty shiver ran down his back. Zael watched him attentive. Maybe he didn't know what blended in his mind, but he intuited something for sure.

"It had to be something really ugly to shake you like that" he said shortly thereafter.

"More or less. However, it was just a dream" Dagran tried to minimize.

Not receiving a more exhaustive response, Zael merely remained close to him in a reflective silence. After a couple of minutes he straightened and broke from him. Judging by his face, he seemed to have come up with an idea. Dagran watched him intrigued as Zael crawled behind his shoulders and leaned with his back against the rock. While the friend was comfortable, he understood what he was going to do and began to feel uncomfortable himself. That was unexpected.

"Uh, look Zael, I thank you for thinking about it, but... I do not think..."

"Come on, you have done it so many times for me" the other interrupted inviting him to approach "Let me do it for you, at least once."

They used that expedient to drive out their nightmares when they were children. Almost four years earlier, when in the group there were only their two and Lowell, they had reused it to drive away the old traumas evoked by a unexpected mission and since then it had returned to be a habit, when the ghosts of their past came back to torment them or when they just wanted to give themselves a moment of tranquility. Dagran though it was a good idea at the time, but now that _he_ was the one who needed to be reassured – and not Zael, as he usually did – he understood why the friend had made himself pray the first time. He gave a quick look at the sleeping companions around the fire.

 _Oh, hell!_

Without protesting, he approached Zael and allowed his friend to surround him with his arms and tighten him as he had already done so many times.

"It's different from this perspective, isn't it?" asked Zael putting his chin on his shoulder. In fact he was right. Dagran was so accustomed to being the one who offered comfort to the other that now that they had exchanged roles it seemed a bizarre thing to him. Not counting that little problem...

"Different and much more uncomfortable than I thought. Why didn't you tell me about it?" he replied when he tried to put himself in place. Zael had tried to do exactly as he did, only that he was much shorter than him and that's why the mercenary was forced to stay all bent to allow his friend to tighten him the same way.

"Uncomfortable you say?" Zael said perplexed "I never noticed it. Maybe it's because you're bigger than me. I can try to sit on an higher place or lie better..."

"Naaa, forget it. It's alright" he reassured after finding a more acceptable position. Dagran was almost sure that at some point he would feel pain in the back soon, but he didn't care about it.

While he was resting on his friend, he noticed that even Zael continued to change position, and with the tail of the eye he saw that he did not stop throwing furtive glances to the sleeping companions and then to the point where Lowell was guarding. Zael had decided to resort to their expedient to try to calm him, but now he seemed to be the most agitated of the two, and Dagran sensed immediately the reason. The thing amused him and gave him an idea to distract himself from his gloomy thoughts. A sneer took shape on his lips. As his friend gave him the opportunity, he decided to tease Zael a little.

"After all these years are you still worried about misunderstandings?" he asked.

Zael straightened embarrassed.

"Uh? N-No, that's not it! Or maybe yes. I-I'm not sure."

Feeling the friend in distress, Dagran chuckled.

"All right, let's pretend it's not like that. However, if the others saw us, I don't think it would be a problem. Basically, they know us. At least we could give them some erotic fantasies on the two of us to think about... of course if they do not have them already!" ended with a mischievous tone.

"Wait... what?!" Zael waved behind him. He loosened the grip, but he didn't do it altogether. Dagran continued to laugh among himself for his friend's reaction. The fantasies thing was not a thing of air; in fact Syrenne at the beginning, during the first of the nights that he had spent together with her, had confided to him that she believed that he and Zael were more than friends and found that thought exciting. Dagran at that point had shown her on a number of occasions how much she was mistaken, with great satisfaction of both of them.

But that was a private thing between him and Syrenne, and for respect for the warrior he had never spoken to their companions about it, even though he was not sure that she had done the same.

 _Now that I think about it, there was a time when Mirania looked at me in a strange way. It won't be that..._

He glanced at the sleeping Mage, wondering what she thought of him and Zael. As he though, he noticed that Zael had started rubbing his hands. He was probably thinking about what those "fantasies" could be. He left him to melt for a minute or two before ending his torments.

"Come on, I'm kidding. Let alone if they think such things about us!"

It was a lie and he knew it – he himself before meeting Celes had done it once or twice, even if he would never tell his friend – but at least it served for the purpose, since Zael drew a sigh of relief.

"You idiot! What do you think about saying things like that at a similar time?"

Dagran guffawed openly to that vexed answer. Sometimes Zael was just a naive. In any case the friend reassured and returned to tighten him as before. The two remained like that for a while, listening to the crackle of the fire in silence. In his friend's arms, Dagran began to relax. The body of Zael now transmitted heat to him, not as it happened in the dream. Almost he had intuited his thoughts, his friend broke the silence and addressed the question Dagran hoped not to hear.

"Do you want to talk about it? About the dream?"

For a moment he had hoped that Zael had forgotten about why they stood there like that. He would have preferred to forget that nightmare quickly, but after thinking about it, he understood that the more he would try to ignore it and the more that it would torment him. Confiding in Zael seemed the easiest solution to solve the problem. Resigned, Dagran drew a long sigh and told his friend that terrifying dream.

"It was the mission in Morva, only that the Reptids were different: they were gigantic monsters, like the Orcs. They were too powerful. The city guard was swept away and the dead sank in the swamps or were eaten by the Reptids. One of them threw me on the ground and would kill me if you hadn't intervened. You managed to defeat it, but it did in time to hit you. I tried to rescue you, to bring you back to others, but..."

Suddenly he interrupted. He couldn't tell it. He didn't want to say it. Zael waited in silence until Dagran found strength to continue.

"When I was able to reach the rest of the group it was already too late. For everyone. I was alone, with your cold body still tight in my arms and the Reptids that were surrounding us. They were just a few steps away from me and they were about to attack... but luckily you woke me» he concluded.

Zael remained stiff and dumb behind him. Dagran was certain that if he had turned to look him in the face, he would find him even more upset than before, and for great reasons. He cursed himself for talking about the dream.

 _Why the fuck did I have to tell him? Why couldn't I just leave it alone?_

The only consolation was that at least he had spared him the most bloody details. He didn't want Zael to begin to see the faces of their friends disfigured by death as he had seen them. He was going to tell him to forget the whole thing when Zael decided to talk.

"It's horrible. Now I understand why you were shaking that way!"

As he imagined, his voice was full of worry. Without a doubt Zael had intuited what he had not told him.

"Yeah" Dagran replied sadly, then he continued with a more swaggering tone, in an attempt to reassure his friend "What a fucking idiot, right? After all that we've been through so far, I'll let myself be bothered by a stupid dream and..."

At that moment he felt Zael tightening him stronger, the cheek of the other that touched his as his friend began to speak.

"It's all right, you don't have to worry about that nightmare anymore. I'm alive, you see? We all are. You're not alone."

Dagran said nothing. He glanced at their sleeping companions, lingering for a while on each of them, and then peered where Lowell was guarding. They were all important to him, each one for different reasons.

 _Yes, I'm not alone, but how long will it last?_

Better not think about it. The important thing was that at that precise moment he still had his family next to him. He closed his eyes and with a sigh he clung to the arms of Zael.

"Thank you, brother" he told him with a voice of affection. Even without turning, he knew that Zael had smiled at his words.

"This nightmare story stays between us, okay?"

Zael nodded at his request, but shortly thereafter he began to giggle.

"You know," he began "I like when you open up so much with me, but I can't help but worry. You're not becoming too soft, aren't you?"

Dagran gave a nudge in his hips.

"Beware of how you speak: Remember that I'm still the boss!" he admonished amused. His friend continued to giggle for a while in spite of the pain.

Yes, Zael had a good idea after all. Although the memory of the dream was still in his head, he felt much better now, however he didn't want to challenge the fate and get back to sleep.

"Do you mind if we stay like this a little more?" he asked earnest to Zael shortly thereafter. If he said no, Dagran would understand. After all, his friend had already done his turn to guard and therefore he had to be tired. In that case, he would go to keep Lowell company. Zael's answer, however, arrived soon after.

"Sure, even until the next change of guard, if you wish" he said hugging him tighter. Hearing it, Dagran nodded and smiled. He didn't need anything else.


End file.
